Gaffey asks to leave state's Higher Education Committee

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, December 17, 2007

But a top Republican lawmaker said the Democratic Senate majority is trying to keep the issue behind closed doors and away from Connecticut residents.

In a letter requesting that Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams Jr. take him off the committee, seventh-term Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey, D-Meriden, the panel's vice chairman, stressed that his relationship with the CSU legislative liaison was not improper.

"It is vitally important for the public to have the highest confidence in the integrity of the legislative process and I am committed to strengthening that in any way I can," said Gaffey, who will remain a co-chairman of the legislative Education Committee.

A Senate staff member said Monday that Williams will honor Gaffey's request.

Gaffey came under fire this month when he was criticized for his relationship with Jill Ferraiolo, CSU's legislative liaison, after the House and Senate approved a billion-dollar, decade-long infrastructure program for state universities.

The same day as the October vote, Gaffey received a ruling from the Office of State Ethics that said the relationship was not a conflict of interest because Gaffey's immediate family did not benefit from the legislation.

Although critics conceded Gaffey has been a long-time supporter of educational initiatives, there were questions about the way the massive CSU program was revived this fall, after it failed to win approval in the Higher Education Committee during the regular session.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said Monday that there's more to the issue than meets the eye and the public deserves some answers.

"I think Tom has done the right thing in getting off the committee," McKinney said.

in a phone interview, noting that the move was Gaffey's idea, not Williams'.

McKinney said removing Gaffey from the committee is one of "several" ethics reforms that could result from the incident.

"I think the Senate, in some fashion, has to state for the record that it was wrong and people deserve answers to their questions,"

McKinney said. "In fact, the Democrats apparently think they're the only ones entitled to ask questions and get answers."

McKinney said the issue was central to a closed-door, senators-only caucus among the two-dozen-member Democratic majority.